This figure shows two ‘S-curves’ on graphical axes. The vertical axis is labelled ‘Performance/Adoption’ and the horizontal axis is labelled ‘Time/Improvement’. Each S-curve is a line on the graph in the approximate shape of the letter ‘S’ – the line moves horizontally before moving upwards, and then it flattens and tails off.
The first line starts in the bottom left corner of the graph and is labelled ‘Old technology, process or paradigm’. Although the lines do not touch, an area of overlap between the two is shown. This area is labelled ‘Paradigm paralysis?’. The second line is labelled ‘Step change in technology, process or paradigm’.